Merge historical data with news

Crowds may have disappeared from halls and stadiums in the last six months, but what about the historical data on them? Have they become insignificant? TheTicketingBusiness asked representatives from Activity Stream, NEC Group and Selligent Marketing Cloud to assess the impact of the pandemic on consumer behavior towardslive events...

After the virtual disappearance of live events last March, companies had to look for new ways to maintain their activities and contact with their audience. In a recent survey conducted by Pollstar and VenuesNow, more than half of live entertainment professionals believe that the sector will return to full capacity in 2021, while 31% say that the return to normal will not take place before 2022.

However, there is no doubt that this period of containment has increased public fears about the return of such events involving hundreds or even thousands of people. In addition, 63% of industry professionals expressed concern about spectator fear of large gatherings.

Martin Gammeltoft, commercial at Activity Stream, agrees that purchasing behaviour will be different, but notes that a company whose sales and marketing strategy was working before the pandemic will need to focus on the changes brought about by the pandemic and whether these changes will continue over time. This knowledge will guide them in their decision making. 

Businesses can make several assumptions about consumer buying behaviour when the industry recovers. Among these, Martin Gammeltoft cites a drop in the number of travellers attending events, a reluctance on the part of older populations, an increase in last-minute purchases, etc. 

"We can align our strategy with these assumptions, but they will need to be validated and frequently updated," said Mr. Gammeltoft. 

He then adds: "If behaviours are indeed different, whether for a given period of time or permanently, the predictive power of historical data will certainly be limited but not useless. We will have to use the predictions made from these data to see how the models have changed. 

Mr. Gammeltoft's recommendation includes "make all the assumptions and align your strategy with them, but plan how to test them quickly so you don't waste time and resources working with incorrect assumptions.

He added: "Many organizations will be under pressure both in terms of resources and budget, so it is more important than ever to be able to quickly learn what works and what doesn't. The restart of the sector will be data-driven and you need to be prepared for that.